Tilak: The Empire’s Biggest Enemy

Bal Gangadhar Tilak was considered to be the biggest threat to the British hegemony.
He was prosecuted thrice for sedition.
Was termed ’the father of Indian unrest.’
He was convicted for his fiery writings in his nationalist daily Kesari.
Tilak, the first definitive biography of the man who raised the slogan that ’freedom is my birthright and I shall have it.’

Before Mahatma Gandhi, there was Bal Gangadhar Tilak - the revolutionary who ignited the spark of Indian nationalism. The Times, London, called him ’the father of Indian unrest, ’ and the one-time Secretary of State for India Edward Montagu felt he had ’the greatest influence of any person’ on the Indian people. Above all, for the British Raj, Tilak was sedition-monger-in-chief, and it prosecuted him thrice for sedition.

Hailed as ’Lokmanya’ or ’One Revered by the People, ’ Tilak transformed India’s fight for freedom from polite discourse to a mass uprising. His fierce writings, relentless activism, and controversial stances earned him the title ’enemy of the British government’ from the Raj, which saw him as its greatest threat. And at a time the British were undermining Indian self-esteem and dismissing Indians as ’uncivilized heathens, ’ Tilak argued powerfully and relentlessly that there was much of enormous value in India’s past, its culture, heritage and civilization, awakening Indians to a sense of their own identity. This definitive biography traces Tilak’s journey from his early days in Konkan to his influential role across India, highlighting his battles against the British, imprisonments, and commitment to Swaraj.

Rediscover an icon of Indian history whose ideas and actions continue to resonate today. Bal Gangadhar Tilak’s story is not just a tale of resistance but a testament to perseverance and conviction.

Vaibhav Purandare is the author of the acclaimed Savarkar: The True Story of the Father of Hindutva, Hitler and India: The Untold Story of His Hatred for the Country and Its People, Sachin Tendulkar: A Definitive Biography and Bal Thackeray & the Rise of the Shiv Sena. He works as a senior editor with The Times of India.